I remember listening to Thriller on the record player with my cousin when I was 3. That creepy laugh at the end always scared me. I remember dancing in my room to the Bad cassette, which I still have today. As everyone already knows, Michael Jackson passed away last week.
Last weekend, former Tennessee Titans quarterback Steve McNair also died. I can't say that I have as many great memories about McNair, but he seemed like a good guy. Like the kind of guy you could just kick back and hang with. When I first learned about his death, I told a friend "well that's what happens when you screw around...you get screwed." I was wrong when I said that.
One of the things that binds all of us on Earth together is that we are all sinners. We all have our faults, we all have our own short comings. Just because someone is more famous than I am, they're sins come out into the light for everyone to see...while mine stay more hidden. I have heard some Christians make callous remarks about Jackson and McNair, and I completely understand where they are coming from. I have said my own.
But I have had a change of heart recently. God has shown me some things that I thought I knew, but I guess I didn't truly believe. What good does it do to point out Jackson's mistakes? Michael was crazy, I'm not denying that. He was different, and there was always speculation surrounding him. But who am I to point the finger at him in ridicule? I think that Jesus is pointing right back at me, saying I need to get the 2x4 out of my own eye.
And of course it was wrong for McNair to have a girlfriend on the side. There is no excuse for that. Anyone who knows me knows how much affairs sicken me. But I also know that all sins sicken God. My sins, McNair's sins, your sins. They're all the same in His eyes. What gives me the right to show off my self-righteous pride by throwing stones at Steve McNair? I would have probably been ones of those people who tried to throw stones at the lady who committed adultery. You know, the story where Jesus shows up and says whoever is without sin should cast the 1st stone.
I think we as followers of Christ would better represent Him if we were more like Him. (Wow, such a revolutionary concept. Christians being more like Christ.) We all have those around us know who we silently or openly criticize and judge. We all find ourselves pointing our fingers at our own brothers and sisters. I do it all of the time. But it's not what Christ would do. He would say something like, "We both know you screwed up. But that's not the end of your story. Let me show you a better way to do life. Let me show you how much God loves you. Let me point out the good in you and encourage you to live the life you were created for." I think that this is the attitude I should have when I find myself pointing the finger.
